The Meet Up & Eat Up Program provides free breakfast and lunch over the summer for all kids in Lake County. / Courtes of Michigan Radio

By Jennifer Guerra

Michigan Radio

More than 90% of school children in Lake County qualify for free or reduced price lunch. To make sure they continue to eat healthy meals once school is out, the county’s school district offers free breakfast and lunch over the summer to any child in the county.

For State of Opportunity, Michigan Radio's Jennifer Guerra dropped by the cafeteria one sunny afternoon to check it out.

Around 125 kids regularly show up Monday through Thursday at the Baldwin Elementary school cafeteria for the summer school meals program called "Meet Up & Eat Up." There are hundreds of these programs across the state, one in almost every county.

David Forrester is director of business and operations at Baldwin Community Schools, which serves all Lake County kids. He says they’ve been running the "Meet Up & Eat Up" program for about seven years now, thanks to a grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

"It’s important for us as a school district to understand, especially in this community, that the meals we provide as a school district are the only nourishing meals that they’re getting," says Forrester. "This is a way for us to continue that during a time when we don’t always have contact with the students."